Coronavirus: 112 released from ITBP quarantine facility in Delhi

An ITBP-run quarantine centre here released 112 people, comprising 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, on Friday after they all tested negative for coronavirus, a senior official said.

They were evacuated last month from Wuhan in China and admitted on February 27 to the special centre of the border guarding force in Chhawla area of south-west Delhi, one of the biggest quarantine centres in the country set up to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Two tests were conducted on these inmates, the first one on the day they were brought here and the second on the fourteenth day. All the 112 samples have been found negative and hence it was decided to allow them to leave for their homes and other destinations," ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.

The inmates were seen off by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General S S Deswal.

This was the second batch to have positively cleared the quarantine at the ITBP centre since the global outbreak of the virus.

Earlier, 406 people were brought to this centre and were subsequently released last month following negative test results.

Addressing the inmates, Rai said the Narendra Modi government is committed to combat the pandemic as he presented a medically-authorised release certificate, a rose and an ITBP calendar to each one of them.

Among the 36 foreigners, 23 were from Bangladesh, six from China, two each from Myanmar and Maldives and one each from Madagascar, the United States and South Africa.

"A medical team led by our chief medical officer Dr A P Joshi was on the job 24x7 and they were happy by the fact that all can go home now," Pandey said.

"This is the biggest coronavirus quarantine centre in the country as it can cater to 1,000 patients and till now it has catered to 518 people," he said.

The ITBP spokesperson further said the facility has now been enhanced with the creation of two segments. Any person suspected to have exposure to coronavirus will initially be kept at the primary enclosure and on the basis of their symptoms will be sent to the isolation area or general quarantine, he said.

While talking to reporters, a Bangladeshi woman said she was "grateful" to India for evacuating her and her family members from China.

M Singh, an Indian citizen, said it was comforting when they were evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus, and subsequently quarantined under medical experts here.

"I am thankful to all the government arms who helped us, be it the Indian Embassy in Beijing, the Indian Air Force, the ITBP and other government officials. Their support has been super fantastic. We are happy to go home safely now," Singh said.

He added that the doctors at the centre have advised them to go into another round of self-quarantine for 14 days as a matter of precaution.

The ITBP, with a strength of about 98,000 personnel, is primarily tasked to guard the 3,488-kms long Line of Actual Control (LAC), apart from rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain of the country.

It functions under the Union home ministry.